The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Civilizations [Mass Market Paperback]

John Haywood (Author), Simon Hall (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0141014482 | ISBN-13: 978-0141014487 | Publication Date: October 25, 2005

The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Civilizations explores the world’s earliest cultures, from the farming settlements of Mesopotamia to the foundation of Rome. Examining the development of civilizations around the globe, it covers such subjects as the roots of the Egyptian pharaohs, China’s long-lived dynasties, and the great cities of the Incas and Aztecs. Richly illustrated with photographs, artwork re-creations, and full-color maps, this is an illuminating and multifaceted one-volume introduction to early peoples and the world they created.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Haywood is the author of a number of books, including The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings and The Historical Atlas of the Celtic World.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (October 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141014482
• ISBN-13: 978-0141014487
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #205,689 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very thorough piece of work, July 30, 2006

By 

Ralph Boerke (Waterloo, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Civilizations (Mass Market Paperback)

I bought four atlases from Penguin recently. This one, New Penguin Altas of Ancient History (McEvedy), N.Pen. Atlas of Medieval His. (McEvedy), and The Pen. Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome (Scarre). They are all thin and small (under 150 pages and around 10" x 7".
This was the best of all four.

I found the articles and maps to be very good. This was the first atlas I found to show exactly how Meso-American Empires were related.

I also liked the coverage of the ancient Middle East. I love to read history and this book had new stuff I hadn't found. And it is nice to have it all in one place (might have taken me weeks or months to find all of this on the Internet).

Very happy with this book

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, but I did find a frustrating error., May 5, 2007

By 

Xerofall "xerofall" (Salt Lake City, Utah United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Civilizations (Mass Market Paperback)

Okay,

I got this book as a gift. It covers quite a bit of history in a small book. More of a starting off point for further research with other books. The photos and maps are very nice however. Most of the other books on history I looked at lacked such nice colorful images and maps.

I did find one error so far, page 102, the Greek City States chapter. I was all into reading the story of the Spartan-Athens victory over the Persians in 480-479 but at the very bottom of the page the sentence does not finish.

"""Their victory is generally recognized as marking the beginning of the Classical age of """"

I figured it would continue on the opposite page, however that page starts a new chapter. Kind of a dissapointment. Age of what????!!!! Now I'll never know. Haha!

I'll still look into buying The Penguin Historical Atlas of Rome and Greece only because of the nice pictures and maps.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction to ancient civilizations, September 20, 2008

By 

Elizabeth A. Gibson (San Mateo, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Civilizations (Mass Market Paperback)

As an atlas, maps feature prominently in this slim overview, and they are very good -- interesting, informative, and well-designed. Ancient Mesopotamia gets the most attention, deservedly so, though ancient civilizations on all continents (except Australia) receive good introductory treatment. This is a slim volume, and lacks depth, but for what it is -- an atlas and an introduction -- it is first-rate. The maps really make the book. My only quibble, a minor one, is that a more extensive bibliography would have been helpful. Highly recommended.